MANILA, Philippines - Church workers on Saturday urged President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to turn to reality the promises she made during Friday's food summit at Clark Freeport in Pampanga.
Soldiers watch as a young boy clutches repacked rice which his parents bought from an NFA truck in Quezon City Friday.
Eden Orlino, a nun and a director for social action of the Diocese of Bayombong, said the shortage in rice supply is a crisis "waiting to happen."
"We have a lot of industries upcoming but I think this (agriculture industry) needs real focus ... We are hopeful that the government will put it on the stage," she said in a statement posted Saturday on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Web site,
www.cbcpnews.com.
Orlino, one of the participants in the summit, said the increase in the prices of rice should serve a "wake-up call" for everyone.
CBCP President Archbishop Angel Lagdameo earlier said the looming crisis was a result of the government's preference to address shortage in food supply, not through domestic production, but through importation.
"Rice importation is a response to a rice crisis. But there must be limit to importations. It should not be the permanent arrangement. The lesser the imports the better," Lagdameo said.
During her speech at the food summit, Mrs Arroyo outlined several measures to address the looming crisis contained in the P43.7-billion six-point assistance package to cluster the government's food production drive, dubbed FIELDS.
She also came up with measures, such as the appointment of a new deputy ombudsman for agriculture, which she said would ensure that the program would not be plagued by corruption.
"F is for fertilizer. I is for irrigation and infrastructure. E is for extension and education. L is for loans and insurance. D is for dryers and other post-harvest facilities. S is for seeds," she said.
"In all these programs, we must be transparent. We will work to fix the corruption that still plagues our nation, including in the agri-business sector. We especially prohibit officials from dealing with fertilizer brokers and agents. They can only deal with official distributors in the regions and provinces," she added.
In creating a deputy ombudsman for agriculture, Mrs Arroyo cited Republic Act 6670 allowing her to appoint additional deputy ombudsmen.
In 1990, such a deputy was appointed for the military, she said.
Mrs Arroyo said other measures were done earlier to address the looming crisis, such as having the Department of Agriculture, National Food Authority and National Bureau of Investigation strictly monitor rice deliveries and investigate cases of hoarding, price manipulation and other illegal activities.
"We are holding officials accountable that have found to be corrupt and conniving with unscrupulous traders; we are letting the chips fall where they may as investigations are concluded and friend and foe alike and brought to account for their actions," she said. - GMANews.TV ArticlesMedia Links
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